[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 25, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REGARDING JUSTICE SCALIA'S REFUSAL TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM HEARING CASE 
                     CONCERNING THE VICE PRESIDENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has 
done something no Democrat and no Republican has been able to do. 
Justice Scalia has united the country from Maine to California, from 
Washington to Texas. Even Texas. Here is just a sample of what 
editorials across America have been saying about Justice Scalia's 
decision to hear a case involving the Vice President:
  Inappropriate. Unethical. Less arrogance, more impartiality. The 
appearance of impropriety is abusive and extreme. It taints the very 
essence of justice. Scalia's refusal to recuse himself let the sour 
tinge of politics ooze into the High Court's chambers. He's ducking the 
law.
  In America, Mr. Speaker, Lady Justice is blind for a reason. Equal 
justice for all is a fundamental right of this country. Justice Scalia 
will soon run afoul of this because he decided to hunt fowl with the 
Vice President.
  The facts, sketchy as they are, are these:
  In early January, the Justice joined the Vice President aboard Air 
Force Two. They flew to Louisiana to spend days together in private 
while duck hunting on a private reserve owned by a local oilman. 
Nothing new there. The area they hunted in was declared a no-fly zone 
by the Secret Service and the ducks apparently abided by the Secret 
Service order. The trip followed a Supreme Court decision to hear an 
important case involving the Vice President. The case involves the 
right of the public to pierce the veil of private meetings the Vice 
President held with Big Oil and Big Business in public buildings to 
chart a public energy policy which has led us into two invasions, two 
occupations. There are huge issues at stake and the Nation must know 
that the Supreme Court will hear the case impartially.
  If Justice Scalia does not remove himself from the case, the entire 
process will be forever tainted. Here is what the law says:
  ``Any justice, judge or magistrate of the United States shall 
disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might 
reasonably be questioned.''
  How could any rational person not question Justice Scalia's 
impartiality if he hears this case? His public response to date has 
been a mockery of the serious concerns expressed across the country. 
``Quack-quack'' is how the Justice ended one answer in public at 
Amherst College. I kid you not. ``Quack-quack,'' from a Justice of the 
Supreme Court. Perhaps in the future the fierce competition by law 
graduates to clerk in the highest court will include an audition for 
bird and duck calls. The Supreme Court decides the fate of lives and 
the course of our Nation for generations to come. Justice Scalia cannot 
let thoughtful, respectful concerns expressed by smart, independent 
voices across the country roll off his back like water off a duck.
  This issue concerns not just Justice Scalia; but it goes to the 
honesty, integrity, ethics, and impartiality of the highest court. The 
stakes are too high and the right course of action too obvious for him 
to ignore.
  Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes as he was laying the cornerstone 
of the Supreme Court Building said: ``The Republic endures and this is 
the symbol of its faith.''
  Justice Scalia defends America best by defending equal justice under 
the law. Justice Scalia must remove himself from this case for the good 
of the Court and for the good of the country.

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